Gorilla My Dreams
Gorilla My Dreams is a 1947 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short, released in 1948, starring Bugs Bunny. The story is a parody of the many 'jungle' movies that were prominent in the 1930s and '40s, including the Tarzan movies. The title is a play on the expression "Girl o' My Dreams". The short featured Gruesome Gorilla, who reappeared as a boss in Bugs Bunny and Taz: Time Busters. The cartoon was remade in 1959 as Apes of Wrath. Plot "Sweet Dreams, Sweetheart" plays briefly under the title card, and the cartoon opens with a trail of carrot tops floating on the seas. Bugs is stranded in a barrel in the middle of the ocean, but he doesn't seem to mind - he's reading Esquire magazine (considered an "adults only" magazine at that time) and singing the song "Down Where the Trade Winds Play" (a song made popular by Bing Crosby). On the island of "Bingzi-Bangzi - Land of the Ferocious Apes", the population is made up of gorillas that act like humans - they read the newspaper and read books such as "The Grapes of Wrath", have families and live in huts. (In the underscore, one of Stalling's jungle themes is heard, its official title being "Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals"). One of the apes, Mrs. Gruesome Gorilla, is sad that she doesn't have any children - though her perpetually grouchy husband Gruesome Gorilla (voiced by Mel Blanc) couldn't care less. Mrs. Gruesome (also voiced by Blanc, using a falsetto) walks toward the water and starts to say, "I'm going to..." (suggesting despondency), but then spots Bugs floating in his barrel. Her mood instantly changes, and she takes him back to her treetop (at one point, yielding the right-of-way to a Tarzan look-alike. (Bugs finishes "Trade Winds" just as Mrs. Gruesome picks up the barrel, and segués into a full verse of "Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat", which he finishes just as he discovers himself in the clutches of the ape.) Mrs. Gruesome wants Bugs to be her "baby". At first, Bugs doesn't want to, but when she starts crying, he gives in ("That's my soft spot - dames crying.") Mrs. Gruesome then presents Bugs to Mr. Gruesome - who is none too happy about having a baby in the house. Bugs tries to fit in, playing like a "monkey". Mr. Gruesome takes Bugs out for "play" (in reality, treating Bugs abusively), but Bugs soon realizes that he's in for a beating if he sticks around. A long chase ensues (including a frenetic version of Stalling's jungle theme), and Bugs finds himself trapped against the edge of a cliff. Bugs gives up and allows Gruesome to catch and thrash him. However, Gruesome quickly tires out and drops from exhaustion, with Bugs knocking him over with a mere puff of breath. Emerging as the victor, Bugs jumps up and catches a hanging branch, again playing "monkey" (another short clip of the jungle theme is heard in the underscore, along with the time-honored "jungle" sound of a kookaburra at iris-out. Notes A similar sequence where Bugs is adrift on the ocean was used again in Rabbitson Crusoe (1956). Availability *VHS - Cartoon Moviestars: Bugs! *VHS - Looney Tunes: The Collectors Edition, Vol. 11: Wabbit Tales *DVD - Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2, Disc One *Blu-Ray, DVD - Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 3, Disc One Gallery Lobby Cards Screencaps External Links *Gorilla My Dreams at SuperCartoons.net *Gorilla My Dreams at B99.TV Category:Looney Tunes shorts Category:Looney Tunes Category:Animated shorts Category:Bugs Bunny shorts Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons Category:Bugs Bunny Category:Gruesome Gorilla shorts Category:Gruesome Gorilla Category:Bugs and Gruesome Gorilla shorts Category:Directed by Robert McKimson Category:Shorts Category:1948 films Category:1948 shorts Category:Warner Bros. Animation Category:1940s shorts Category:1940s Category:Vitaphone short films Category:Tarzan Category:Story by Warren Foster Category:Written by Warren Foster Category:Animation by Charles McKimson Category:Animated by Charles McKimson Category:Animation by Manny Gould Category:Animated by Manny Gould Category:Animation by John Carey Category:Animated by John Carey Category:Animation by Izzy Ellis Category:Animated by Izzy Ellis Category:Layouts by Cornett Wood Category:Backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas Category:Voice Characterizations by Mel Blanc Category:Music by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl Stalling Category:Musical Direction by Carl W. Stalling Category:1948 Category:1940s films Category:Cartoons directed by Robert McKimson Category:Cartoons written by Warren Foster Category:Cartoons animated by Charles McKimson Category:Cartoons animated by Manny Gould Category:Cartoons animated by John Carey Category:Cartoons animated by Izzy Ellis Category:Cartoon layouts by Cornett Wood Category:Cartoons with backgrounds by Richard H. Thomas Category:Cartoons with voices by Mel Blanc Category:Cartoons with music by Carl Stalling Category:Film Editing by Treg Brown Category:Cartoons with sound effects by Treg Brown